Method of feeding people



Jan. 16, 1923. 1,442,211.

Y 1. M. BAITINGER.

METHOD 0F FEEDING PEOPLE.

FILED JULY 5.1919. 4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

cflzdbooo Jan. 16, 1923. 1,442,211.

,. J. M., BAITINGER.

METHUD 0F FEEDING PEOPLE.

FILED JULY 5,1919. 4 SHEE-TS-SHEET 2. 2. j@ E PEG- f J. M. BAITINGER.

METHOD 0E FEEDING PEOPLE.

FILED JULY 5,1919.

Illvc 9 'III Jan. `16, 1923.

Patented im. ie, i923.

JOHN ivi. `BAILINGER,'or -s'iuY Platin,MINNiiso'in.'ll

ivinTiioi) OEEEEDING PEQIE- j" 'Application fue@ :niiy 5;

To all whom-z5 may cmi-cern: y A

Be `it know-n that 'LjJoHN M, BAITINGER, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, lin the county OfiRamsey. and State of lvllinnesota, have invented a. new' and useful Improvement in Methodsof Feeding People, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to the method of feedingl alarge number of people Conveniently in a short time, thexprimary feature being that various kinds of foods are'passed before the people-seated atthe dining` table so'that them and they can' help 'themselves Without ineonveniencing any of the people seated'fat they can readily help themselves as ,the food passes before them on ar train of ears..

The .eafeteriaplan ofvrestaurantiis very popular today where food is served so :that the people can pass bya'counter and-'select the various foods that' they desire and then carry the food lon `a tray to adining table.

This apparently isan ideal way of feeding people, but it is not satisfactory ateertain times to take care of al large number of people with least inconvenience to each of them and to serve them with just the kind of food that they desire, because 'ofthe factvthat if large number of people entered a restaurant of thischaracter together, some of them'hold up V others'froiii passing by the counters which display .the Jfood and thus y'delay those A that may be in a hurryto select .their 'meal and depart from the restalurant.` My method of feeding ,people overcomes this diilieulty,v

by allowing the peole -to enter the restaurant.

and immediately be seated at thefdining'- table while a train of cars carrying thel variousV foods. passes automatically before the table.v y a if if i The food train continues to travel centrally through the dining tablewhile the people are seated jonv either ffside of the same and if they do not vget the food .they desire the first time that the car carryingthe same 'passes by* their place, they can help 'them-V- selves-the next time yiit passes by, the ears.. being' filled as: they pass through the Vkitchen,-

and the iood'being` dished-,out into individual helpings so thatft can b'e-freadilyremoved by the people-seated at the dining table.'y "Y i carrying out my'method .ai lset. prieel for each-patlron' can arranged so Vthat all pay yi thefsamfe'pl price aiidfallow thejpatrons tohelpf,. l

themselyesto asmany helpingsas theyjdesire, vas itis evidenti'that seine' will eat more;v

andfsome'lesssoi that when .fthe .suintotal i' taken into consideration, it lwillfall'equalize I bev agreed'upon, or vmy`- method provides Y itself "so that a singlelpricegfor a meal een i y kmeans whereby eachV individual e'an'pay for j ust what they getandthus provide ai simple,

inexpensive method of feeding" a'large numu ber of people atene time.jThe method 'pro-, f

yvides means whereby Ia minimum amount olf a' help ris'required to successfullyoperate the. samelthus materially reducing the eostfoxf' feeding the'people. This will be' readily un y i i dei-stood whe-nit istakenfinto consideratipn. 3 that no waiters areV required,V `or dish colle'ei ieturn them`- tothe kitchen, .where they are quickly.-ieinoved,L f i v To assist indescribing myinethoml haveI i illustrated, inthe drawings, agsimp'le pme,` V ehanie'al construction'for"earryingioutfthe .i same, it being evident thatvariousnieans can u SO Figurerillustrates, iiiagfamimaiically, ai

be provided for'carryingontv this'iiietlCKliy )lan view-.of a form. of dinin'ff-table ,which ina'trainof oars-,andsomeoflthe'ears'aresoj u l ,y constructed-as torec'eive'the useddishes to Y f can beusedincarrying out method.

linee- 20g `niguna i Offii@ :emi-ng tatie;

the vC lining -ltable p'artz of? whibh's broken "Figure illust up the train..

igure 2 illustrat esA a cross section ontlie "i S5 Figure isa sideelevationfof aportionof y rates a portion of the: food. a

train7 showing some of the earswhieh malte 90V l y Figure 'illustrates:another portion of the train. i

, Eigure illustratesar planI yiewofa por-fy vFiggiire, `'mechanism a uref?.

Figure ure 2; illustrating kan alternative construc- A`V Figure tion ot,vr the train, some iof tlieears being FigureS'is ay'viewon'- thelines of Fig-` y "I i yg, Y- ivf, j I 'l '4i-e0v 91e a cross r,section similar to Figr. is a detailro'f agiportionv ofl theif" struction or" diningtable illustrated in Figure 9,' only a portion ot the same being illustrated.

In carrying out the method, the diningvroom of the restaurant is provided with a counter indicated at X havingtwo tables A,

with a track such as l for a food'train centhe tables to the inner Iside, thus allowing them to be seated' adjacent either table thereby ,accommodating a large number of ranged in any suitable manner s0k that thepeople at one time.

A portion D ofthe counter X extends through the kitchen E, which is separated from the dining-room by the 'wall F so that the kitchen or noportion or the same is visible from the dining-room`,fbut openings 3 are provided in the wall F to allow the food train to pass freely through and into and out of the kitchen when it is in operation. This constructionprovides a very Vneat appearing dining-room and if it is desired a very elaborate :toed train can be provided to display the various foods as the train passes along the dining tables. The kitchen is artrain can ybe sup-plied with food when it is in operation, each car being filled as it passes through the kitchen with the food dished into individual helpings,'the train being kept in motion, thus causing no delay in serving these seated at the table and allowing them ytoireely help themselves, A suitable` gravity carrier Grof any well-known construction', may be used Ato remove the trays ofv useddishes and while only one gravity carrier@ is illustrated, it is obvious that any number can be used in the kitchen to carry out ymy method. The train travels along the dining tablesli in the direction of the arrows illustrated in Figure 1. 'A suitable switch not shown in the drawings can be provided in the kitchen so as t0 remove any or allor1 the cars of the train from the track, if it is desired. f

The train B travels on the rails 4. which are secured in a suitable mannerin the track Asuch as l in the counter X, and is made up through the dining table.L Aller the illustrations in the drawing are only diagrammatic. asv it is clearly evident that any suitable train can be provided of' any suitable mechanical construction.l It" is essential, however, that plain cars,v such as 8, are provided. in the train for carrying bread and car 9, which is provided with aecompartment':10 for carrying a heated soap stone,

the top of this car being of vmaterial such as aluminum to transmit the heat freely to the dishes containing the `foodA onjthe top of the. same and this car being `for the purpose of carryingfoods that it is, desired to keep warm until they are served. I A refrigerator car V11 is 'alsoY provided"- inthe train', which is yformed so as to carry vother foods of this nature; also a heated*V a layer l2 kof cracked ice lbelow the Screen top 13, so that' ice cream or other foodsthat` it is desired to keep cool can be placed directlyon the top of the ice on the 'screeni13, and a silverware car lll is formed with compartments for the various silverware required in a dining-room. y Theused dish'car 15 has a dish tray 16," which is freelyfremoved by the handles 17 when' it isfull of used dishes, as thiscar comes intoy the kitch-y tinuou's'drive chainflS, which eXtendsfbelo-w".

the cars and is carried the sameby vmeans ofthe connecting h'ooks 19 'and links y 2O to each ot' the cars, or 1n any suitable' j- V mannerv so that the Vchain will beheld in place below the cars and to slowly draw the train of cars lB around the tracks 4 so that the people at the dining table can freely and easily remove the iood from the tra-in The speed ofthe trainjcanbe regulated by the driving mechanism.

The chain 18l is ydriven by a `suitable sprocket'l and a guard 22, is provided to hold theichainllS finto engagement with theV sprocket. A suitable electric motor 23, which is positioned inthe floor ot the dining-room` as illustrated-in Figurefl, Aoperates the drive shaft Qatmvhich is connected bvsuitalile gearsto drive theshaft 25Y and the shaft 25 is rigidly secured. to the sprocket 2l so that when the motorf23 `opera-tes, the chain 1S will bel operated by the sprocket'l' andthe carsv 5, connected to the chain will be drawn around the tracks e. lt is evident that the tra-in can be drawn in any suitable manner, thevdrawing merely illustrating the can be fed much cheaper than with thepresent means and thus if it is desired, one price can be arranged for all of the people eating at the table A, as it is clearly evident that some will eat less than others and no one Will feel that they would Want to overeat at a public table of this nature, lWhilel it Will be permissible to eat all they desire, so that they can freely help themselves tol more than one helping if they Wish.

The construction of the device, illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, provides ani auxiliary train I3 centrally located below the train B in the table A for used dishes only, so that in this construction the used dishes can be returned to the kitchen by means of the. train B and access'to the train B is had through the screen door 26 so that the dishes' can be placed on the train B and returned to .the kitchen Without interfering with the food train B, the food train running on top the same manner as heretoforel described. In the construction of train illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, a third rail track 4.- is

yprovided so that the trains B and B can be driven by a suitable electric motor car of ordinary construction. It is also evident that the train can be lighted at night byl electricity, in the ordinary Well-known manner, and if it is desired some of the' cars heated by electrical means. i

The food train B operates continuously during serving hours and is supplied Jfrom the kitchen in the most practical Way. large number of people can lbe seated at the tables A by using the space -on the inner and outer sides of the train, the subway C forming a unique means for Vpassage'to and from the inner side of the same. If Vit is desired to carry out the method in such a way that each person pays only for what he eats, it can be arranged so that he can put his order on the train and have'it carried to the kitchen Where it can be filled, having a number to designate each place, or they can help themselves and a checker can issue a ticket or check of the amount which should be paid by each person when leaving the restaurant. The principal idea in the method is to feed a large number of people in the shortest possible time and at'a minimum cost so as to give them as much for their money as possible, doing away with all unnecessary help and the inconvenient oldi methods of handling the foods and dishes, still giving the best of' service. y v

4The construction illustrated-in the drawingis only diagrammatic and the;y method. can be carried out by any suitable construcf lscope of the-followingclaims.`

I claim:

1. In a food serving plurality of normally open food receptacles tion and in any suitablefmanner Within 'the adapted'tobe successivelymovedalong said Y. I'

mechanism, a table, a

table to accessibly ldisplay said food, means l l Jfor maintaining some of said food rec ep'` tacles ata predetermined temperature and means for interchangeably attaching said maintaining means lupon other` f temperature l of' Vsaid receptacles.

f 2.V In a food serving mechanism,- a table,

a plurality of normally open Qfood'receptaf cles adapted tofbe successivelymoved along said table to accessibly displayr the vfood therein, and detachable, means mountedon some of'said food receptaclesfor maintaining said receptacle and the food within the same at a predetermined temperature.

, 3. 'In combinatlon, a counter, a food carv rier mounted on the upper portion lof'said f counter, a pair'of tables mounted on either side of said food carrier projecting over said counter, food receptacles accessible from dish conveyer `positioned Within said coun-v `t'er'belovv said food conveyerand hinged doors positioned at intervals along said counter togive access to saidused dish conv veyer.

4. In a'. food serving mechanism, a convvtinuous circuitous counter, van .endless carrier positioned along said counter, a cir- .105 of said endless carrier, seats positioned on l cuitous endless table positioned on each side the inside and outside' of said: counter adjacent saidtables and meansfor conducting customers from the inner'table to the outer A table.

5. In afood serving mechanism, a con tinuous circuitous counter, an endless carrier positioned along said counter, a circuitous endless table positioned on each side of sald endless carrier,r,seats positioned on the inside and outside of said counter vadj acent saidl tables and a subway for conduct- .i

ing customers from the inner.` table to the outer table. Y A 6. A serving mechanism for. restaurants an endless food carrier positioned on .the 'Y cent said second table, and a subway leadingv from the interior of said lcircuitous counter to the exterior vthereof forconductinglcus- I ias y 95l 'f both sides mounted on the carrier, a used of the counter and displaying the food inA 12o v comprising acontinuous circuitous counter,

temere from the inner seats to the outside. 7. ln :.1v mechanical restaura-nt, including zu dining tal-ble, :1- fcocl train lclapted to pass through `the center of the top of Saidy table,

5 meansl for operating saidv train, said train being composed of a series of individual cars for carrying various kinds of foods *paste the people seated at the dining table and ham/ing'` heated cars, refrigerator cnrs, dining ntenSil ca1s,r dirty dish cars and plain 1G cars, all of vwhich are open and are freely accessible to the peopleisearecl at the table, forthe purposes specified.

JOHN M. BAITINGER. 

